What Happened

Hillary Rodham Clinton reveals what she was thinking and feeling during one of the most controversial and unpredictable presidential elections in history. Free from the constraints of running, Hillary takes you inside the intense personal experience of becoming the first woman nominated for president by a major party in an election marked by rage, sexism, exhilarating highs and infuriating lows, stranger-than-fiction twists, Russian interference, and an opponent who broke all the rules. She describes what it was like to run against Donald Trump, the mistakes she made, how she has coped with a shocking and devastating loss, and how she found the strength to pick herself back up afterward. With humor and candor, she tells readers what it took to get back on her feet -- the rituals, relationships, and reading that got her through, and what the experience has taught her about life. She speaks about the challenges of being a strong woman in the public eye, the criticism over her voice, age, and appearance, and the double standard confronting women in politics. She lays out how the 2016 election was marked by an unprecedented assault on our democracy by a foreign adversary. By analyzing the evidence and connecting the dots, Hillary shows just how dangerous the forces are that shaped the outcome, and why Americans need to understand them to protect our values and our democracy in the future. The election of 2016 was unprecedented and historic. What Happened is the story of that campaign and its aftermath -- both a deeply intimate account and a cautionary tale for the nation.

Comment

The documents and testaments of truth in this book is the business of Hillary Clinton. I think she did a fine job, and the factors that led up to voter suppression was due to change in voter rights, democrat attrition, (people die and privacy and shock issues overwhelm people, have some understanding for what people go through, like Bo.) During the 2012 campaign, my mom died from cancer and my mind just was not in a place of social justice, voting, etc.

I think it was just a rough patch for everybody.

Hillary did a legit and honest job. At most, she is innocent and did nothing wrong. Love and kindness my friends. Remember, that is Hillary's life, not ours, and we are not to judge her for doing her best. We have all faltered with integrity, indeed. Forgiveness is granted. Amen.

You've got to be kidding. Yes, blame everyone else. It was "their" fault. Not that you campained poorly and seldom or had bad issues or didn't know your constituents. Or that you are a crook and your husband a sexual pervert. Now it is "We can never be civil". You are the one who hassled President Trump about accepting the outcome of the election. Now who isn't accepting the result of the election? Bleach bit and hammer on.

In the audio version, Hillary reads with zest, chuckling every few words at her own cleverness. Having lost to a man she had mocked as delusional, she promises new candor and openness. Now at last she can tell the truth. Those who wasted their money and time on her previous books, can rest assured they won't be tricked again. This time she will level with them.
--- Before the election, Hillary was planning her presidential library, where, she told friends, future generations would study her achievements, an awe-inspiring prospect. At an event they both attended two weeks before election day, Hillary boastfully joked that Trump had given the contest away.
--- She assumes she would have won but for Putin and Comey. (She let copies of State Dept emails go on the laptop of child-endangering sex-offender Anthony Weiner, then blamed Comey for revealing it. She also blames the Media for reporting it.)
--- She assures supporters concerned about her fragile female psyche that she is holding up OK. Though swindled by Putin and Comey, she claims to accept the election result philosophically. (In the campaign, she was supposed to be tough as a man, despite repeated faintings. Why are supporters concerned about her morale? Sympathy-seeking in defeat, she would have been merciless in victory.)
--- She denounces Trump's wickedness, comparing him to Stalin and an Orwellian torturer. She deplores the "ugliness" we face with him in charge.
--- She condemns Trump's endless lies and those of other Republicans. She could have resorted to lying herself, but was too pure-hearted for that.
--- She especially blames Trump for doubting Obama's US birth. (From 1991 to 2007, Obama's literary agent advertised his birth in Kenya; it helped sell books. Obama had to be aware of this. Why did he permit it? When he decided to run for president, he changed the story. Hillary-backers raised the issue in 2008. When Trump later took it up, Dems attacked him.)
--- She blames Trump for saying Obama bugged his campaign. (Dems claim Trump's words did not precisely fit the surveillance that actually occurred, and thus he lied.)
--- Hillary lost her own group, White women, by ten points. They remembered how she smeared Bill's victims as "bimbos" and "trailer trash". How did Putin and Comey make that happen?
--- I quit listening a little way in. I wanted to hear her excuse for cheating Bernie, and for calling straight White males "deplorables" at several closed events. But I couldn't take any more of her utterly phony performance.

I find these book a list of excuses that is nothing more than a failed candidate that only her enemies want in public eye making excuses about why she lost. I don't mean to get political, but no matter how much you or hate Clinton, you must admit she failed to ever truly blame herself.

LOL mmterry! Couldn't, can't stop laughing. Said it a little differently than I would have though. The truth is Hilary was upset by the underdog and the Dems are still trying to make excuses of why Trump should have lost. Suck it up, you lost, move on.

I wasn't fully committed to reading this book at first. I went into it with a "one chapter at a time" attitude. I really didn't feel like re-living the election. However she won me over "one chapter at a time". There is more than politics in this book. The parts I enjoyed the most were sections about what it was like to raise a child in the White House and her feelings about being a mother and a grandmother, as well as her feelings about her own mother. I don't think I understood what an incredibly accomplished woman she is and you can't help but respect her life's work regardless of how you feel about her politics. She was a trail blazer in many ways. I liked when she talked about life on the campaign trail and what that entailed and I was really interested in her experience as a female in politics. She also explained with detailed examples how opinion based news and social media has changed politics on a global level. That was a bit discouraging. I think I learned a lot from reading this book. There were many things I thought I knew but realized I didn't understand at all. And isn't that one of the best things about reading?

I find it offensive that readers cannot express different political opinions. Hillary Clinton was what happened. She was a bad candidate with lots of baggage. Years ago I watched live while she called Former President’s women liars and bimbos. No they were not. He perjured him self, faced impeachment, lost his law license. Hillary had numerous scandals and currently is still being investigated for her “careless emails” and her foundation. Incredibly the Democrats were ready to put them back in the Whitehouse. She made over 100 million dollars out of her political career. These are all facts, are facts offensive?

In some ways, I wish I had seen more of this from Hillary before the election. She made me laugh, she made me tear up, and I felt like I was seeing more of her humanity than ever before.
As someone who is 'far left', I supported Hillary in the election, somewhat half-heartedly. While I like her more as a person after reading this book, politically we still don't match enough for me to be an ardent supporter. I'm hoping that she does what she says she is going to do- support worthwhile causes and listen to the upcoming generations of people on the left to help shape the future of the Democratic party.

Quotes

". . .three basic contrasts we wanted to draw with Trump. . . [2] He was a fraud who was in it only for himself (sic!), but I was in it for children and families [but not men, apparently]. . [3] He was divisive, while I would work to bring the country together [no identity politics here, folks!]."

"Standing here [in the arena at the nominating convention] as my mother's daughter, and my daughter's mother, I'm so happy this day has come," I said. "Happy for grandmothers and little girls and everyone in between."

(feminist triumphalism. . . wonder why that didn't go over so well with a lot of folks?)